well when I go to sleep I put my shoes side by side next
To the bed incase emergency I have to get up for something
So, my shotgun is right below the bed and the revolver stays
In one of my shoes. I sometimes put it under the pillow.

I took a long hiatus from owning any guns. Now that I have them again, my pistol is always nearby, but certainly not in arms' reach. I have no fear of someone bustin down my door. If there's a commotion, I want to wake up and assess the whole thing before I go grabbing a gun. If I do need it, it's only 2 steps away, with one in the pipe...

If I'm traveling (thus sleeping alone), I'll keep my .45 in bed with me, under the covers. Should someone break in and accost me, I'll be able to reach it easily without making an apparent move for a weapon (as would happen should I keep the pistol under the pillow).

My 5-shot snubbie is loaded up, in its IWB holster, under my pillow while I sleep.

Twice since I've moved into my house nearly a year ago have I been woken up in the middle of the night due to noises. Both times I snapped awake, knowing that something wasn't right and being almost fully alert and aware of a lot of things at once, from the position I was lying in (I hadn't moved when waking up), to the dryness in my mouth, to the sounds that woke me in the first place. Neither time did I make a grab for my gun before assessing the situation.

Both times, the noises were caused by the weather: the first time, it was so cold outside that one of the windows in my room was slowly (and loudly) cracking (when I figured it out and got up to investigate/confirm, the gun came with me); the second time it was very windy outside, which was causing the soft, flexible pine tree planted right next to my house to slap up against the vinyl siding (when I figured that one out, I didn't get up--I could hear the tree hitting the siding as the wind picked up).

I've been building a small bedroom kit for responding to nocturnal emergencies and contingencies. We live on the Oregon Coast and have concerns that range from storms and mudslides to earthquakes and tsunamis. I like the safepacker as a holster concept for the bedroom, but I take it one step further.

If I awake to a 9.0 Richter scale earthquake, my glasses, gun and everything else will be all over the room, with dressers and armoires crashing on top of them. Californians can attest to earthquakes that throw you out of bed and right onto the floor.

So into a safepacker holster place the following: weapon, reloads, and tactical flashlight and sleep with it under the covers. I put it between me and my spouse so we both have access to it. Next to the bed I have a bag or pack where I put my wallet, keys, other EDC gear and glasses every night when I go to bed. I have a pair of pants ready to jump into next to the bed and shoes with hard soles just like a firefighter.

When the ground stops shaking there will be debris and broken glass all over the place and I will be in the dark, probably without electricity. A holster system with reloads and tac light are the first piece of a plan for being prepared for anything.

My Mossberg 500 12Ga sits in the safe 2 steps from my bed, five rounds of 00 buckshot in the magazine, bolt closed on an empty chamber. The safe is closed, but the dial is unlocked. I can be in the safe and chamber a round in 3.5 seconds, and have a bandoleer of extra ammunition hanging in the safe as well. Anyone coming into the house will set off the alarm, but the dog barks as soon as he hears something in the yard. Between these two warnings, I'm fairly confident I can be up and armed before being in danger, but have enough pause to avoid a ND, and enough concealment of the weapon to avoid it being used against me.
A note on dogs: My American Bulldog has impressed me with his uncanny ability to tell when I'm expecting company and when I'm not. Any uninvited activity in the yard rouses him to alert, warning barks and all (great deterrent for Jehovah's Witness's). But if I know a friend is coming over, he doesn't make a sound.

Many people make the same mistake when it comes to sleeping with a gun handy. Never, ever, EVER put your gun in an unsecured place. That means on (some) bedside tables, on a pillow or even under a pillow. Any place like this is very bad. And I don't mean because someone can grab it or your kids could get it- or even that an angry wife could get it (!!!)
The problem is that if you put your gun in a place like this- as you move around during the night the gun can too. If you are half awake and reach for your gun it might not be where you left it. It might have been pushed around and be only 6 inches from where you think it should be. During a break-in this could be imposible to find during a panic.
ALWAYS keep you gun in a place where it won't move from. You don't have to use a safe. Maybe put it in a bedside drawer or tuck it under the mattress. How about mounting a holster on the bed frame?
Just be sure that it will be in the same place every time you reach for it.

__________________
-mrghostwalkerAnd this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Quote:Ambien sleep aid users need to be aware of reports where they drive, write notes, fix meals and eat without being aware of it -- and don't remember doing it later. :Unquote

I'm a Ambien CR user and have never had these side effects. Ambien helps me fall asleep when I want to, lets me wake up when the dogs (or occasionally wife) wants me to. I don't use any other kinds of alcohol or drugs.

Only reason for mentioning this, I wouldn't want folks to be scared off this sleep aid, if they need one.

I'm a Ambien CR user and have never had these side effects. Ambien helps me fall asleep when I want to, lets me wake up when the dogs (or occasionally wife) wants me to. I don't use any other kinds of alcohol or drugs.

My wife is an Ambien CR user and it has caused her 2 falls, one of which was quite serious. (Wife is an RA patient) Now she gets half of one only under my complete supervision. Personally, I don't recommend Ambien CR for anybody.

__________________
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I am the weapon; my gun is a tool. It's regrettable that with some people those descriptors are reversed.

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